Flash Freeze

Posted on Mon Apr 26th, 2021 @ 11:30pm by Lieutenant JG FalenvralLi Zh’kyhrihr & Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII

Mission: By Artemis' Bow
Location: USS Athena - Holodeck
Timeline: MD-02 1800
2904 words - 5.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Before Alpha shift started, Li sent the Chief Engineer a reminder about their scheduled meeting on the holodeck along with a note that, if it was okay, she'd have the replicator make a proper skidding suit for Keating and an invitation to dinner afterward. Her first shift manning the helm went well. Travel through deep space was usually pretty uneventful, but it gave her plenty of time to get a feel for the controls. Holodeck sims were theoretically indistinguishable from well-known scenarios like that, but it was still nice to sit in the actual seat and touch the actual controls.

When she got to the Holodeck, she tapped at the control panel, loading a customized version of a scene she'd run many times before, then waited - wearing her own suit, a padded but snug suit of azure blue material with black trim - while holding the suit she'd made for Keating in crisp white.

Finn ran towards the holodeck. If there was one thing Finn hated, it was being late, but as usual, she had immersed herself in engineering reports before her shift and had completely forgotten about her meeting with Li until the reminder binged on the padd. Still one minute early, but out of breath, she entered the holodeck.

"Hey! Thanks for the reminder...I got caught up with reports." Finn pushed the words out in between breaths. "Is that my suit?" She asked of the material Li was holding. Taking note that Li looked fantastic in her own suit and hoping that the one replicated for herself would be just as flattering.

The junior helm operator wasn't about to scold a Chief Engineer if she'd been a few minutes late, but Li grinned watching her charge in. "Not a problem. I was just double-checking the settings." They stood in a recreation of a cavern on the Andorian homeworld. Crystal blue ice surrounded them, seeming almost to glow in the dim light, some of it looking natural, some seemingly cut to shape the cavern as needed but long weathered. The floor where they stood was flat, but to one side it began to slope toward a tunnel not much wider than a person that quickly dropped out of sight. Several other openings lead to chambers around this main one.

Li handed the suit over. "The computer picked the size based on your history, so don't blame me if it doesn't fit. These have quite a bit of stretch anyway but it might be uncomfortable to have the whole uniform on underneath just if something gets folded or whatever. I already have the ambient temp a bit warmer than it would be for real, but this will keep you closer to comfortable for a human and protect you from too many abrasions or bumps. Ice is hard and it can get sharp." She unfastened the front of her own coverall to reveal the simple, form-fitting top she had on underneath. "You can use one of the side caverns to change or... trust that I'll be too distracted making sure these things are safe for you to peek."

"I'll take your word for it then," Finn chuckled and immediately started exchanging her uniform for the suit that Li had handed her. She wasn't one to care about others seeing her change anyways. The suit's material felt amazing, it was probably the most comfortable thing she had ever worn. Although not convinced that white was her color, Finn was pleased with the general fit and look of the outfit as she closed up the top portion and set her Starfleet uniform on a shelf.

Li blinked when Keating took her invitation and started changing right in front of her. Though she was far from a prude by any measure, growing up in a place this cold meant that casual disrobing in anything like public wasn't a thing you ran into often. She wasn't about to complain as her eyes lingered just a moment on the lovely engineer before leaning over one of the skidders and double-checking it against a PADD. She verified which unit would be Keating's. "I have your ride set up so that it will anticipate any dangerous curves and make sure you don't hit them totally wrong. You won't be on rails or anything, but it wouldn't be any fun to ice yourself on the first turn. Gentle turning can be done with body lean - kind of like a bike if you've ridden one - but both of your hands will be on controls that engage motors that'll let you climb the walls pretty hard in either direction."

"This is really quite beautiful scenery," Finn noted as she now had a moment to actually appreciate the view in front of them. "Is that tunnel where we'll be skidding?" She asked, noticing the circular entrance that looked almost like the entrance to an ice-covered slide. It was both exciting and intimidating to think they might be racing down that path amidst the cold ice.

Looking to Keating at the sound of her voice after the rustling of fabric, Li nodded - agreeing and approving of the fit of the suit. "Captivating, yeah." She shook her head and looked around at the cavern, then moved a bit closer to the tunnel entrance. "Right, most of the course is about this diameter. In a few spots part of the tube will be open to another cavern though, so try to look out for that and tilt to keep ice under you."

She stepped toward her own skidder and started to demonstrate, "So you ride these prone, head up looking forward. The lower you can stay, the more aerodynamic you'll be." She straddled the rather sparse looking frame, then kneeled down. "There's a ridge here along the outside you can press your knee against if you want to use a little body English - " she demonstrated, cocking a hip one way and driving her knee to other to shift the skidder over slightly "but you can easily lift your whole leg out if you want to use the weight to lean." She laid flat, then showed how she could grip the controls and lever her legs off to one side. "It, uh, it'll make more sense once you try it while moving. Anyway, the controls just rotate in your grip. Pull harder toward you to drive it harder that way, or rotate it away to push the other way. One at a time or both, the motors are independent."

Finn got down on top of her own skidder as Li finished her demonstration. She could feel the cool air from the ice surround her as she had gotten closer to the ground. The controls seemed simple enough, but the controls combined with the body movements made it seem like this might just be harder than it looked. "So like this?" Finn replicated what Li had shown with her knee pressed against the ridge. "And I handle the controls here?" She fumbled the controls in her hands, trying to get a feel for how it all worked together.

Li leaned over Keating, guiding her hand into a more natural position on the controls. "That's about it. The ice in the tunnel will be smoother than here and once you're moving there's not much friction so just a little momentum will carry you a long way. Try no to oversteer." Her blue coveralls brushed against Keating's white as she eased the skidder closer to the tunnel's mouth. "Go gentle. See if you can settle into the flow. I promise it isn't as complicated as it sounds once you get a feel for it. And worst comes to worst the holodeck will keep you out of too much trouble." She leaned up a little, glancing over the edge. "You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Finn responded, excitement and apprehension creeping into her voice. This was single-handedly the most invigorating and terrifying thing she'd ever done.

The skidder then nudged over the edge of the tunnel's entrance and Finnley felt the floor practically disappear beneath her for a moment as she plummeted downward. The skidder zigged and zagged for a bit as she tried to get used to the controls, quickly realizing the full of Li's statement about needing to be gentle. The smallest of movements seemed to do the trick. Looking ahead, she could see the first curve and Finn braced her body for the attempt, fully expecting that she might end up splatter against the wall. She moved the controls ever so slightly and swooshed to the side of the tunnel before adjusting to bring the skidder closer to the center of the track.

For just a moment after Keating's skidder disappeared into the tunnel, Li stood there listening to the hiss of blades on ice. Then she trotted back to her own ride, kicking it toward the tunnel entrance and leaping atop it - using her own body's momentum to start down the hill with speed. She grinned into the biting air that flowed around her, pushing her antennae back, some fragments of ice kicked up by Keating's passage splattering against her face. When the first turn came up, she leaned into it, taking the wall higher than she needed to and losing some speed but, with her years of experience, she'd catch up soon enough.

The tunnel pitched down and darkened around her before curling gradually off to the left where the roof was open to a large cavern that spilled near-blinding light onto her briefly. Up ahead was another open spot, this one on the bottom of the course but in a section where the bend was steep enough that she'd be riding the side anyway.

She heard Keating ahead of her before she saw her. Even over the shushing of her own skidder, the addition of another made low, droning music. Slightly different tones. Not quite the symphony of a crowded racecourse, but a pleasant harmony. She came up close behind her, gaining fast, more ice flying up from the back of the lead sled, slicing her cheeks. She leaned one way but then suddenly shifted her weight the other as they reached a turn and twisted the controls to bring her mount up hard on the wall. Li passed alongside and then directly over Keating, centrifugal force just barely keeping her against the ice as she effectively did a barrel roll around her finishing directly in front of her with barely enough speed left to still be pulling away.

"What the hell is tha..." Finn was caught off guard by Li seemingly flying overhead. "Damn, that was impressive!" She said as Li's sled slipped in front of her. A barrel roll around another sledder in an ice tunnel? Who would have known. Clearly, Li was quite talented.

Finn, now wanting to keep up with her counterpart, leaned into the sled. Becoming as aerodynamic as she could. The sled almost instantly picked up speed as her body pressed into the frame, her face feeling the ice now with closer proximity. Another drop sent her body plummeting downward, though it felt as though her stomach had been left behind. Ice and light seemed to trickle in from a hole punched out of the upper portion of the tunnel, illuminating the next turn. She hung closer to the sled and made sure her hands were firmly pressed on the controls. At this speed, the slightest error would send her hurtling off of her sled.

Easing the power for the sled and shifting her weight to one side, Finn entered the circle with minimal resistance or sway. "YES!" She shouted with the success of her first, dare she say, graceful turn. A celebration perhaps too soon as the tunnel launched upward, followed immediately by another descent. Having not slowed down appropriately, Finn caught some air before slamming back into the sled.

Li chuckled at the shocked snap of Keating's head and the sound of surprise she heard passing over her. She couldn't quite make out the words, but it wasn't hard to guess. A showboating move like that would get your ass beat at the end of a real race. It bled off too much momentum to be a smart maneuver and showed you didn't see that competitor as a serious threat. It was fun though.

Even as she started picking up speed again, Li heard the sled behind her keeping up now. She risked a glance back to see Keating execute a turn almost perfectly. Letting gravity and the flow of the tunnel push her up the wall but not too far and staying under control. As the ice under her rose, she tilted left so that when it fell away again she was able to smoothly ride out the drop on the curve of the tunnel's side without losing any speed. More than once, desperate to make ground, she'd hit that drop too hard and spilled right off her skidder, tumbling with it and smashing into the wall. She heard the crack of Keating slamming down onto the ice but, just before another turn took her out of sight, she glanced back to see she was still atop her skidder and moving.

The tunnel continued but, before long, spilled out into a large cavern with a rough surface that gradually rose to eat away momentum. Li pushed herself up onto her knees and swung the skidder so it was sliding backwards, allowing her to watch the tunnel entrance for Keating's arrival. When she saw her, she raised one fist in the air and called out, "Yeah! Nice first run!"

Finn saw the cavern open up and herd Li's compliment as she shot out into the open space. She ungracefully attempted to skid to a stop, but as the cavern wall drew closer, she took an alternative route. Finn quickly rolled off of the moving sled, her momentum continuing to carry her across the ice until she stopped just short of the icy barrier. As the adrenaline coursed through her, Finn laughed.

"Oh my God, that was unbelievable! I mean, YOU were unbelievable. That barrel roll?! You'll have to teach me that sometime." She said as she pushed herself up from the ice to collect her skidder. "Wow, thanks for showing me this. Most fun I've had in a while, that's for sure." The broad smile on her face confirmed her joyous sentiment.

When Li saw her roll from the skidder and slide bodily across the ice, her own grin dropped, antennae perking to full attention. She rushed to Keating's side, kneeling down beside her only to find her laughing. She sat back and looked up at her she moved to collect her skidder. "Well, that might take a bit of practice, but I'm game to work our way there if you are." She felt her cheeks flushing a splotchy, deeper blue. "And I'm glad I could show you a good time. No reason the fun has to end here. Did you want to stop for dinner? Or... shall we go again?"

"Dinner sounds good. I think I've had enough icy excitement for one day, but we'll definitely have to do this again. My stopping technique needs a lot of work," Finn chuckled. "Computer, end program." She gave the command and suddenly the icy was exchanged with a black and gold grided wall. Finn collected her clothes from the shelf next to the arch and proceeded to change for the skintight, yet comfortable racing attire.

"How long did you say you'd been doing this? You're clearly quite skilled." Finn asked, wondering how long it might take her to even come close to showing the same amount of mastery on the skidders as Li had just demonstrated.

Seeing Keating start to change back into her uniform, Li, ran her fingers through her hair, brushing residual wetness onto her fingertips. "Maybe you were smart to wear your uniform. I'll have to stop back at my quarters to change - of course, I might go a bit more casual, if you don't mind. I understand there's a bar on board here, but I haven't made it there yet. If they serve food, think you could show me around?"

Heading for the exit, Li seemed to struggle to come up with an answer. "Well... sledding is just something you do as a kid on Andoria. Like, by the time I could walk, I could ride a sled. And this is just a variation on that. These specific types of skidders on a course like this though? I probably spent about 5 years taking it seriously. Racing, not just having fun. But that's been... gosh, 12 years since I ran a course on Andoria."

"Wow, no wonder you're so good!" Finn said, still impressed with Li's skills. "You're probably right on the attire front. I think I'll stop by my quarters too and change out of my uniform. I don't remember the last time I've changed this many times," she chuckled. "Do you know where the bar is? I can meet you there in a half-hour?"

"I'm glad I could impress you at least once tonight," Li said, grinning. "And that sounds like a smart plan. I look forward to seeing you out of uniform without me dressing you. I'm pretty sure I can find the way. It's a date."